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Monday, 25 January 2016

I wasn't in on the 19th as I was full of cold and my voice wasn't up to it. I won't be in tomorrow, the 26th, either. As such, by the time next week comes round this will be hopelessly out of date and I'm already building up a backlog of tracks for the next show which I could do with working through. So I'm not doing this one on the radio, only here.

The Wave Pictures - Slick Black River From The Rain
Anything new from these is welcome. The new LP is A Season In Hull and is out next month. Looking forward to hearing more from it.

Field Music - Disappointed
Are these ever anything other than excellent? It's the sheer consistency which impresses. This is the second track taken from Commontime, out of February 5.

Jesse Malin - Sorrow
The album The Fine Art Of Self Destruction has been reissued following its initial release in 2003. Still sounds pretty good to me.

Featured albumDavid Bowie - LazarusDavid Bowie - Dollar Days
What else could it be? It's been a week now and it's still baffling how we didn't see it coming given the songs on Blackstar. It's a terrific album anyway, but after Bowie's death it takes on a whole new outlook. It's a masterpiece. The master innovator, refusing to be pigeonholed to the last. So long, Starman.

Soronprfbs - I Love You All
From the soundtrack of the film Frank, this features Michael Fassbender on vocals. Joyous.

Ringo Deathstarr - Guilt
What a great name. Shoegaze isn't dead, at least not in Austin, Texas. The album is Pure Mood and it came out last November.

Shields - Alive
These are from Newcastle and their debut album How Can We Fix This? is out next month. Pretty good, if you ask me.

exmagician - Job Done
A duo from Belfast, their debut LP is out in March on Bella Union, titled Scan The Blue. Elements of psych and shoegaze makes for a decent sound.

Throwing Snow - Clasp
One I've had on the backlog for a while. This came out in July. If I was struggling for an excuse, I'd say it had a more winter feel to it, but I just hadn't got round to it.

Featured albumDavid Bowie - I Can't Give Everything Away
The last track on Blackstar. Very much a goodbye, one would say with the assistance of hindsight.

Ummagma - Lama (Malcolm Holmes OMD mix)
Electro-pop from the Ukrainaian/Canadian duo given a club feel by Malcolm Holmes. The original track was on the EP Frequency which came out last month.

Ophiuco - Pneumatic Psycho Bodhidharma
Extraordinary. These Italian trip-hoppers released Hybrid last month. Extraordinary is the only word I can find for it, in a good way.

Tuesday, 5 January 2016

A new year, apparently. A new you, possibly. A new format, definitely not.

Those Unfortunates - Letter Writing Man
A new single from the Londoners in advance of their forthcoming debut LP. It's good too, whiffs of HMHB, I, Ludicrous and others.

Samh - Nomad
Local lad Sam and his band here. Find them gigging around and about - they're well worth it. Folk-rock, I think you call it.

Pulco - Brunswick
Another taster track from the album Farmyard & Library which is due this year some time.

Featured albumBelle & Sebastian - Nobody's EmpireBelle & Sebastian - Enter Sylvia Plath
This week we feature Girls In Peacetime Want To Dance which came out last year. Highly acclaimed, it's undoubtedly one of the albums of 2015. A bit more dancey than usual, but not lacking the expert songwriting we're so familiar with.

Still Parade - 07:41
The latest from the ever-excellent Art Is Hard records is this dreamfunk stuff from Berlin. Just let it wash over you.

Blooms - Waves
A new band from Manchester, but not making the sort of sound you'd normally associate with the city. More of a surf sound, this. Could catch on.

Those Foreign Kids - Ry Gos
From Haarlem in the Netherlands, Ry Gos is apparently an ode to Ryan Gosling. This will appear on the forthcoming LP Oh, Nothing.

Super Besse - Holod
Another track from 63610 which is superb. You should get it.

Featured albumBelle & Sebastian - The Party Line
The first single from Girls In Peacetime Want To Dance which came out in advance of the album. And is bloody great.

Shitwife - Hand Banana
Noisy as hell and terrific fun. This is off Big Lad which came out last summer.

Night Dials - Waiting At Your Door
A new single from these London-based garage/psych rockers. Lo-fi goodness.

Andrew Weatherall - The Confidence Man
From one of Britain's foremost musical innovators, this is the first single from the new LP Convenanza, his first full solo album since 2009. Pencil it in for the end-of-year reviews already. The album is out next month.